The Texas Rugby team continued their preparation for the CRC by winning the Easter 7s in Dallas this past weekend.
The format of the Easter 7s changed on a few occasions from round robin scrimmages between a few Texas collegiate programs, to a full tournament, then something in-between when several teams failed to arrive on Saturday morning. Credit to the organizers – the Dallas Reds – who then were able to piece together a mini-tournament between the University of Texas (two sides), Texas Tech, North Texas, the Dallas Reds and the Arlington Mavericks.
For the Longhorns it was another fantastic opportunity to gain valuable match practice with a squad of 17 players. Together the two teams went 6-1, with coaches Jacob Liberman and Julien du Castel able to interchange players between the sides.
"I'm very happy with the continued progress we're making. We have a lot of players really making a case for selection and narrowing the team down to 12 for the CRC is going to be really tough," said du Castel.
In the semi finals UT defeated Texas Tech 40-0, while North Texas took out the other UT team in a 19-12 cliff hanger. North Texas produced exciting sevens rugby, scoring some great team tries. This bodes well for Texas collegiate 7s, with a full summer of tournaments like this one.
"I was happy with our play today. We're starting to see results from all of the hard work we're putting in off the field," added Liberman.
"Word has spread that UT will represent Texas at the CRC and the support has been outstanding. Many opposing players and coaches wished us luck after the final. I personally want to thank the Dallas Reds for organizing this tournament on short notice." continued Liberman.
Easter 7s Results
Game 1: UT 29 Texas Tech 14
Game 2: UT 33 Dallas Reds 0
Game 3: UT 26 Arlington Mavericks 5
Game 4: UT 17 North Texas 7
Semi Final: UT 40 Texas Tech 0
Semi Final: UT 12 North Texas 19
Final: UT 47 North Texas 5
The UT squad for the Easter 7s
Stephen Mahoney (captain), Kellen Burke, Ryan Moore, Eric Luikens, Creighton Bundy, Patrick Dinnin, Scott Lynch, Anu Desaraju, Justin Casino, Mike Sierra, Colin Ferguson, Gilbert Perales, Noah Villalobos, Kye Heck, Tod Mullen, Mark Boraski,
Jeremy Maranitch.
Jeremy Maranitch.
Points scorers from the weekend, thanks to team work.
Lynch (25 points, Tx5)
Villalobos (25 points, Tx5)
Luikens (25 points, T, Cx10)
Dinnin (22 points, Tx2,Cx6)
Mahoney (20 points, Tx4)
Boraski (19 points, Tx3, Cx2)
Mullen (17 points, T, Cx3)
Moore (12 points, Tx2, C)
Ferguson (10 points, Tx2)
Casino (10 points, Tx2)
Perales (10 points, Tx2)
Dasaraju (5 points, T)
Heck (5 points, T)
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